Various RF antenna devices include a beam forming network having waveguide dividers/combiners to divide/combine signals between a common port and an array of antenna elements. As the number of elements in an antenna array increases, the number of junctions increases and the waveguide divider/combiner structure becomes increasingly complex and space consuming. Furthermore, for large operational frequency bandwidths, the performance of the power divider/combiners may limit the overall performance of the antenna device. For example, variation in the output phase and amplitude of the waveguide dividers/combiners across the operational frequency bands may limit the radiation efficiency and sidelobe performance of the antenna device.
Various traditional waveguide junction power dividers have limited bandwidth and/or power split ratio capabilities. Interleaved waveguide networks tend to be complex, costly, and too heavy for some (e.g., mobile) applications. For example, magic tees having a fourth non-planar port are not suitable for integration into compact layered structures.